Shloka 26
Adhyaya 26 — Madālasa Names Alarka and Reorients Him Toward Kshatriya Duty
करोषि किमिदं मूढे ! ममाभावाय सन्ततेः ।
दुष्टावबोधदानेन यथापूर्वं सुतेषु मे ॥
karoṣi kim idaṃ mūḍhe! mamābhāvāya santateḥ / duṣṭāvabodha-dānena yathāpūrvaṃ suteṣu me //
அறிவிலியே, நீ என்ன செய்கிறாய்—என் குலத்தின் அழிவை ஏற்படுத்துகிறாயா? முன்பு என் மகன்களுக்கு நீ கொடுத்த வஞ்சகமான அறிவுரையைப் போலவே இப்போதும் தவறான அறிவுரையையே அளிக்கிறாய்!
FAQs
The verse frames a dharmic tension: renunciatory teaching given prematurely to heirs can undermine worldly responsibilities (rāja-dharma, family continuity). The critique is not of knowledge itself, but of mis-timed instruction that disrupts prescribed stages and duties.
Primarily falls under Vaṃśa/Anucarita (dynastic/narrative instruction) rather than Sarga/Pratisarga/Manvantara. It is an ethical-illustrative episode embedded in the Purāṇic narrative.
Symbolically, ‘perverse instruction’ indicates knowledge divorced from adhikāra (readiness). True teaching must match the recipient’s stage; otherwise, it becomes a force of ‘dissolution’ (pralaya) within social and personal order.